German Patent Application No. DE 10 2005 049 777 A1 describes a method and a device for operating an internal combustion engine. Here, in at least one operating state of the internal combustion engine, at least one intake or exhaust valve of a cylinder of the internal combustion engine is switched off, or at least one switched-off intake or exhaust valve of the cylinder is reactivated. Thus, for example, a first operating state of the internal combustion engine can be provided by switching off half of the cylinders by switching off the intake or exhaust valves, as well as by switching off the fuel injection. This first operating state is also called half engine operation. In the case in which cylinders are switched off, in half engine operation, half the cylinders are switched off by switching off the intake and exhaust valves as well as the fuel injection. In a second operating state of the internal combustion engine, for example, all the cylinders are then reactivated, i.e., their intake and exhaust valves and the fuel injection are reactivated. This second operating state is also called full engine operation.
The time at which a deactivation or activation, i.e., a switching off or a switching back on, of an intake or exhaust valve (also called a gas exchange valve) can take place is limited by the basic circuit of the camshaft, because only then is the corresponding gas exchange valve closed, in the forceless idle state.